HB 199, legislation similar to the Salmon Protection Initiative, may get another hearing in the House Fisheries Committee soon. Captained by the estimable Rep. Louise Stutes of Kodiak, and staffed by whiz-bang fish policy experts, House Fisheries Committee is uniquely suited to help shape public understanding of this crucial legal approach to fish habitat protection.
Discussions on HB 199 have occurred at different stages throughout the past two years. Now, as we near the end of the final session of this legislature, and the noise of election season is heard rumbling nearby, there is some urgency for additional deliberation on HB 199. Because the bill language contains many of the same concepts as the ballot proposition, the committee has the opportunity, though fleeting, to get these concepts discussed in a meaningful and rigorous and professional manner before the rambunctious generalizations inherent to a ballot proposition campaign come crashing in.
The House Fisheries Committee has heard from resource agencies, and attorneys on HB 199, and that is important. They should also hear from a policy historian to parse out some of the issues that have led us to the policy calls of today.
For instance – Over the past years in Alaska we have lost the Coastal Zone Management Program which brought Alaskans to the table in major permit reviews. We cannot currently comment on temporary water use permits which are used as a proxy for major industrial water rights. We have stripped public interest litigation to bare bones, and we have consolidated and decreased public comment on oil and gas leasing. We have halted reasonable water quality measures to prohibit wastewater mixing zones in salmon spawning habitat, and we have rolled back a citizens initiative to make cruise ships not dump sewage into state waters. We have no requirement for interagency consultation on major water withdrawal permits, and we have no law on the books to prevent dewatering of a salmon stream.
The committee might also call forth a climate scientist and a stream ecologist to discuss the very real threat that climate change will introduce a myriad of stress factors on salmon in their freshwater habitat.
The central question that HB 199 and the ballot proposition grapple with – Do the projected and current industrial development activities and the increasing challenge of climate change warrant a strong, modern, flexible, precautionary policy to fish habitat protection? The House Fisheries Committee should keep talking, in the relative calm and quiet of a legislative hearing room, about how Alaska answers this question.
Hearings You Should Listen to, Watch, or Participate In this week:
Monday, March 26th
1:00 p.m. House Resources
HB 27 HIGH-RISK CHEMICALS FOR CHILD EXPOSURE
— Testimony —
3:15 p.m. House Labor & Commerce
HB 374 ON-BILL FINANCING OF ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS
— Public Testimony —
3:30 p.m. Senate Resources
Consideration of Governor’s Appointees – Board of Game:
- Mrs. Teresa Sager-Albaugh, Tok
- Mr. Larry Van Daele, Kodiak
— Public Testimony on Appointees —
Tuesday, March 27
10:00 a.m. House Fisheries
Presentation: Pike Predation of Salmon Smolt by ADF&G
10:15 a.m. House Energy
HB 382 RAILBELT ELEC. TRANSMISSION AUTHORITY
— Public Testimony —
- Suzanne Settle, Sr. Director Energy
Development, Cook Inlet Region, Inc. - Chris Rose, Exec. Dir., Renewable Energy AK
Project (REAP)
3:15 p.m. House State Affairs
Presentations:
- AK Permanent Fund Governance by Angela Rodell,
Chief Executive Officer - Fiscal Plans Overview by Leg. Finance Div.
- Overview of Permanent Fund Proposals in the
Legislature by Legislative Staff
Wednesday, March 28
1:00 p.m. House Judiciary
HB 367 NATIVE CORP. LIABILITY FOR CONTAMINATION
— Public Testimony —
3:30 p.m. Senate Resources
Overview of State of Alaska’s Permitting System
for Anadromous Streams
- Department of Natural Resources
- Department of Environmental Conservation
- Department of Fish & Game
— Testimony —
6:00 p.m. House Resources
HB 173 CLIMATE CHANGE COMMISSION
— Public Testimony —
Thursday, March 29
10:00 a.m. House Energy
HB 382 RAILBELT ELEC. TRANSMISSION AUTHORITY TELECONFERENCED
— Public Testimony —
- Seth Brown, Principal & Vice President, GDS
Associates - Paul Wielgus, Managing Director, GDS
Associates - Janet Reiser, Exec. Dir., AK Energy Authority
1:30 p.m. House Finance
HB 322 OIL SPILLS/POLLUTION:PENALTIES;PREVENTION
— Public Testimony —
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